Morph On

God is looking for those with changed hearts and minds. Whoever has that kind of change in his life will get his praise from God. ~ Romans 2:29

How has your heart and mind changed since you came to know Christ? If you haven't noticed much change you may need to check yourself spiritually to see if your commitment to Christ was real as there should have been a change made somewhere within your heart and mind. Contrary to what I have heard some say, I do believe there is a change no matter what your walk in life was; good, or bad. One doesn't have to be leading a life of sin for there to be change; that is not the only change that should take place. There was and still is tremendous change for me just in the act of learning how to let go of control among many other things. I dare say that there are Christians out there who believe that because they are not sinning there is no change needed. To them I would say to be wary of complacency. If you're stagnant than you're probably not moving forward either. Here's what I know from experience: even though I don't have a life of unbridled sin, I do still live here on this earth which requires me to keep in check everyday with my Heavenly Father. I've learned that I need to accept change, be more open to loving others, be more forgiving, more patient and I definitely need to be more trusting in the Lord. What I have learned is that my life may not need a change from blatant sin, but my change may be a need to continually morph into more characteristics of Christ - to be more Christlike. To become closer to what he wants me to be also comes with a whole lot of praise from the Almighty and that's the praise I'm after....so morph on! ~

What Relief

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ~ 1 John 4:4

For the last few weeks someone, or some people, have been breaking into businesses (three, or four) here in Oak Creek and stealing mostly alcohol and leaving a wake of vandalism in their path without being caught. Ever since my husband and I decided to go ahead and apply for our wine/beer license I have been fearful that they would target our establishment next. Last night it was only our second night serving and sure enough, we got the call at about 1:30 a.m. from the Sheriff's Department and received a visit from a deputy at our house. Apparently the culprits where trying to break into Shorty's and were apprehended before they could even make a dent in the door they were trying to get into. THANK GOD! Not only was our little restaurant saved, but the suspects were caught and my little home town can go back to normal. At church this morning we were told, "Well, I know this sounds strange, but to bad they didn't try to break into your place first. God had your back." I do know that God had our back and I know they would have eventually got caught, but I do feel a sense of God's covering over our restaurant. They didn't even get close enough to the back door to do damage before they were caught, even though the Sheriff's Department is certain that was their target from their positioning. It's almost as if they hit a brick wall when they decided to mess with Shorty's at 2:00 a.m. and for that I am thankful. Now I just pray for the suspects and hope they have learned something from their run in with the law, but only time will tell. For now, I'm relieved and my fear is gone as I know that God's will for my family overcame the plan of the evil one. What relief! ~

Conquered Love

Jesus said, "I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world." ~ John 16:33

I'll be candid and completely honest here. Even though I am a follower of the only one true living God and have accepted his son as my Lord and Savior, most of the time I struggle with the whole trust issue with (and hang on to your hats) Jesus especially. If things aren't working out the way I want them too it's an even bigger struggle. However, in the last few years of my life I am beginning to understand this trust thing with Jesus a little better. Not that I have it down; it seems like it's a daily struggle with me, but I am learning that if I trust him instead of myself than no matter what the circumstances, I seem to come out the other end unscathed and okay. I have to be reminded daily that the bible is chalked full of promises to us, His children and that includes me no matter how unworthy I feel. However, sometimes I think that we forget that he never said, "Now that you are a follower of me your life will be easy." We just want to think that. For me, I know that trusting Jesus and God is sometimes hard because I don't always feel His presence. I have to remember that he is always with me no matter what's going on and He has my back no matter if I feel Him there, or not. I do know that his love for me is unshakable and unmovable at all times...so on that I can rest assured and conquer the world. ~

Only Temporary

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. ~
James 1:2-4

To consider challenges in life a gift is a little than I can stomach, but I have to admit that there is some truth to that kind of thinking. After all, I can look back at my life and think of several circumstances that were monumental in moving me, or my family closer to God and His will and they were almost all presented in some form of a challenge, or huge change. I don't know that I consider them gifts, but I do consider them as opportunities for God to reveal himself to me in drastic ways, or maybe it's an opportunity for me to be refined in character and Christ likeness. When there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel and you only have God to hang onto sometimes that's the best place to be. When we have to trust in Him and Him alone to make things work out that hang terrifyingly in the balance, we are usually right where He wants us to be. I've often thought that if spiritual warfare is thick in my life and my life seems to be in check with God's ways than I must be doing something right because the enemy is really trying to take me down. I must be on to something, if I can just hang on. Trials, tests and challenges are all part of God's plan sometimes whether we want to admit it or not. He did not promise a life of roses and butterflies at all times; in fact, He warned us that there would be trials....so take heart... maybe you're right where God wants you to be; I promise it really is only temporary. ~

Thank Jesus

I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. ~ Philippians 4:13

We have just finished our second move in the last 7 months; yes, you read that right, we have moved twice since December! Granted the second move was only about two blocks away from the first, but if you don't already know this about me, I hate change! However, God blessed us with both moves...so after much thought and prayer we did it yet again. During this last upheaval I remember thinking to myself I really don't know how I'm doing this again; I can't believe I'm not withered with exhaustion. I mean really, here we are moving again in the midst of operating and really still getting a two month old restaurant off the ground (also proving to be a huge blessing), raising our boys and trying to keep ourselves grounded. What are we thinking! It occurred to me in the midst of my thought that maybe I'm not exhausted because I am in the midst of a bigger plan for my life and because I'm not fighting it (at this particular moment; believe me, I usually put up a good fight) God is supplying enormous amounts of strength. When I look back at the last two years of my life and especially the last seven months, I feel like it's been more like five years; we have been through a lot and we have made life altering changes that we felt were guided by God. So when I read this scripture this morning the truth of it rang clear to me; I have tremendous strength in Christ and I have never been more aware of that than now. His will; not mine, coupled with His strength; also not mine, is AMAZING! Thank you, Jesus! ~

Finished Victory

Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. ~ Romans 8:37

Despite the monotony of daily chores such as doing the same dishes, washing the same laundry and playing the same action figures games over and over with your fiery five year old....victory is ours. Even despite the never ending bills, the broken down car, the faltering health or even failing health of our loved ones....victory is ours. How about through a broken economy, a broken marriage, a broken child, a lost job, or even the loss of a loved one....victory is ours. Scripture says that victory is not only ours through Christ, but OVERWHELMING victory is ours; OVERWHELMING. I know we won't truly know what that all entails, or even how that feels down here as that victory is reserved for those of us who cross the finish line, but I assure you it will be glorious and I can't wait. One of my little tricks for getting through difficulties is to remember that I win at the end and that if I could just see how God is using my circumstances to refine my sometimes rough exterior, or interior I would be glad for it. I think to myself that if I could zoom out and see the bigger picture for what it really is, how God sees it, I would understand everything. Sometimes I just have to understand that I'm NOT GOING TO understand everything. It's okay. One day I will and one day I will have complete victory over my life when I stand with Jesus Christ after having finished the race. Run on! Victory is yours! ~

Pure Love

I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ~ Jesus in John 17:20-21

Have you ever sat back and wondered how the "church body" would be if we got rid of doctrine and denominations and actually were acutely in tuned with each other based solely on the relationship we each have with Christ? My husband has often said that he believes God is up there shaking his head at all of us "Christians" as we debate and argue over things that have nothing to really do with our salvation instead of just focusing on loving each other as he has called us too. There is a place for doctrine and making sure that our fundamental belief system is intact as Christ would have it, but sometimes we forget how to just love people. Here is an example from my mind bank: I remember once hearing an argument straight from a Pastor's mouth that smokers are all going to hell because of their habitual addiction. I thought, Wow! What about God's grace to these people? What about his forgiveness? Furthermore, I hope no one actually believes him. Furthermore, at that moment I prayed that no newcomer, or unbeliever was in ear shot of him for fear that they may be ever turned off to this Christ person. It may be true that you'll smell like hell from smoking, but just because you smoke doesn't send you there. Last time I checked that particular issue had not forbearance on my salvation. My point is that we get so caught up in social, personal and sometimes doctrinal differences that the true message of salvation gets muddied. Let's watch ourselves, love each other and become the one church body that Christ longs for us to be. We need to get rid of the pettiness and get down to the heart issue of salvation and the basics of Christ's pure love. ~

Health Depends

What in God's name are we thinking? Why do we keep ourselves so busy? Don't we realize that is part of the stress? Here we are, on the edge of monumental decisions....AGAIN! Why can't we just have a normal life? When will things slow down? I know, I know, everyone is busy, but that doesn't make it right, or even slightly okay with me; I want simplicity! Excuse me if I want to be settled for a while (longer than 7 months, thank you) instead of following society's muddied idea to be extremely busy and always striving for more. Don't get me wrong, I believe everyone should strive for something better, but who says it has to be constant? Who says we have to go from one accomplishment to the other without stopping? DO NOT PASS GO AND DO NOT COLLECT $200! YOU MUST GO, GO, GO! I'm tired and I need a break. Now, with all that being said, my desire for a slower pace and OUR need for it as humans all came to a head last Friday when my husband was thrown into a forced night off when he was stricken with Transient Global Amnesia (TGA). He lost all memory of Friday and the week prior and was forced to stay in the hospital over night for observation. Yes, his memory has come back; all except for Friday, the day of the attack, but it just goes to show that we are still human and we all need to slow down. I'm thankful my man is okay, but I will be more conscious of this family's stress level and I will be looking for more opportunities to slow down. Our health depends on it. ~